I spent a lot of time on different Japan Travel Facebook groups and websites planning this trip. There are tons of great tips out there but also a lot that weren’t really relevant for us. Below are the things I think are most useful to know prior to a trip to Japan.
ARRIVAL
Visit Japan Web
Visit Japan Web is a website that you can use to help streamline your arrival in Japan. It allows you to fill out immigration and customs information ahead of time, generating a QR code that can be used to expedite your entry. One person can fill out the forms for the entire group (up to 10 people) but everyone gets their own individual QR code. The person filling out the forms needs to register on the website vjw.digital.go.jp. After registering they can fill out passport, flight, and lodging information for themselves and their family members. This can be done weeks before your trip or up to 6 hour before your flight departs.
Passport information can be uploaded by taking a picture of your passport or entering the information manually. (I was able to use the camera scan option for 3 of our passports but the 4th wouldn’t accept it for some reason so I had to add it manually.)
After adding everyone’s passport information, you must register your planned entry, including arrival date, arriving flight, and accommodation information (name, address and phone number of the first hotel/airbnb you are staying in). The entry information can be applied to all members of your travel group that you already added by selecting their names.
Lastly you have to complete the electronic declarations for immigration and customs.
After the 3 steps above are complete, you will be given a unique QR code for each member of your travel group. You should ensure that each person has access to their QR code on their own devices because we were each sent to different immigration lines. I took a screen shot of everyone’s code and sent it to them. We each presented our QR code at the immigration counter and then again at the customs electronic declaration terminal.
I will say that this is the fastest I’ve ever been through an immigration line in another country. In fact, we were pressured to move faster through the empty line stanchions to get to one of the many available agents waiting to process visitors. But the speed seemed to be more a function of their general efficiency than major time savings from using Visit Japan Web. I definitely found it more convenient than filling out paper forms at the little tables prior to the lines (they no longer pass out the forms on planes), but the reality is that it probably only saved 5-10 minutes. Even so, I found it worthwhile because it was one less thing we had to do when we arrived and one less stressor.
Flying In/Out of Narita
Tokyo has two airports – Haneda and Narita. Haneda is only 9 miles from central Tokyo, while Narita is 37 miles. In general, Haneda is mostly domestic flights and Narita is mostly international. We only had a handful of flight options into Haneda and they were all a good bit more expensive so we flew into Narita. While I knew it was over an hour outside of Tokyo, I didn’t process how difficult that would be after a long flight. The airport was chaotic and when we sat down with Google Maps to figure out the best way to get into Tokyo, we were surprised at how long and expensive the trip would be. We ended up taking the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno Station. The ride took about 45 minutes and cost ¥2580 per person. On the way back we took the Narita Express from Tokyo Station. This option was slower and more expensive. It took about an hour and cost ¥3070 per person. There is also an airport “limousine bus” which takes about 100 minutes and costs ¥3100. And cabs are an option, although they are prohibitively expensive, costing ¥23,000 to ¥33,000 depending on traffic. Although both the Skyliner and the Narita Express worked out fine, I wish we had been better prepared with the route we wanted to take instead of floundering in the airport/train station trying to figure it out while we were tired and dragging all our luggage around.
Japan Airlines
We were really impressed with Japan Airlines. The crew was so friendly and hard working, the plane was immaculate, and the main cabin seats had more legroom than other airlines. While our experience was great on the flight over, we were even more impressed on the flight back. With about 4 hours to go in the flight, my youngest son started filling dizzy and nauseous. Thankfully the plane had a lot of empty seats so they set him up to lay down across 4 seats in the middle section. They checked on him constantly, bringing him water and blankets and asking if there was anything else they could do. Their level of caring and compassion was amazing. Before we got off the plane they gave me a gift bag for him. It was full of snacks and a handwritten note saying that they were sorry that he wasn’t feeling well and since he missed the second meal they wanted to be sure he had food when he felt better. It was so unbelievably sweet and thoughtful. The impressive service continued when we got off the plane and he wasn’t feeling well enough to go through Customs right away. When the ground crew noticed that our bags hadn’t been picked up, they came back to check on us. They made sure we didn’t have a tight connection (thankfully we had 5 hours) and told us they’d hold our bags for us. As soon as they saw us get in the Customs line, they had our bags waiting for us on the other side. And if that wasn’t enough… my husband realized about 2 hours later that he had left his Kindle on the plane. He couldn’t get back to the terminal we arrived in so he stopped at a random Japan Airlines gate in the terminal we were in. He told them he had left his Kindle on the plane and asked if there was a way he could get it back. She magically reached under the counter and pulled out his Kindle! They were waiting for the gate to open at our next flight so they could deliver it there. Amazing!
Japan Airlines’ level of service was incredible. Their crew and staff were so kind and helpful. I’m certain we will visit Japan again, and we will fly JAL when we do.
TRANSPORTATION
IC Cards
Whether you are staying in one city or moving around, the IC (Integrated Circuit) card will play a major role in your trip. IC cards have different names depending on where you buy them (Suica or Pasmo in Tokyo, Icoca in Osaka and Kyoto, etc.) but they are all interchangeable. The card basically functions as a pre-paid debit card that can be tapped to pay for transportation (subways, trains, buses, trolleys). It can also be used in many vending machines, shops (like 7-Eleven) and restaurants.
IC Cards are available digitally or as a physical card.
Physical cards can be purchased at ticket machines or ticket counters and require a ¥500 refundable deposit. They can only be re-charged at ticket machines in stations or at convenience stores, and they can only be re-charged using cash. You cannot use a credit or debit card to add funds to your paper IC card.
Digital cards are only available to iPhone users but they greatly simplify the process. You can add one directly to your Apple Wallet by clicking the + sign and then selecting Transit Card. Scroll down to Japan and choose the type of card you want to add (Suica, Pasmo, Icoca, or Toica). You can easily add funds directly to the IC card by clicking Add Money, inputting any amount in yen, and then charging it to the credit card in your Apple Wallet. The benefit of the digital version is that you can add money no matter where you are (we loaded our cards before we even left the US) and can use credit instead of cash. For our teens who didn’t have credit cards without foreign transaction fees, we sent them Apple Cash and they could reload using that money.
On subways and trains, you tap in at the ticket gate of your departing station and tap out at the ticket gate of the arriving station. On buses and trolleys, you either tap in/out when you get on and off or for fixed fee fares you just tap when you get off. Because the cards track individual trips by scanning in and out, you cannot share an IC card (either physical or digital) on the same ride. Everyone must have their own. For digital passes, you can scan your phone without opening your wallet or even unlocking your phone. And they will even work if your phone runs out of batteries!
Limited Express and Green Car Train Tickets
This was a confusing one to try to understand ahead of time but relatively straightforward when we actually got there and started riding the trains. All trains require a regular ticket that pays the fare to get from point A to point B. That is paid by scanning in and out at the stations, either with an IC card or a paper ticket. Limited Express tickets and Green Car tickets are essentially an add-on to the regular ticket that buys you a special/upgraded train or car. Prior to our trip, we purchased Limited Express Romancecar tickets from Shinjuku to Hakone. We wanted the direct route and the more scenic train so chose to pay extra for the Limited Express ticket. When we took the train, we still had to pay the base fare by tapping our IC card in Shinjuku and Hakone. The limited express tickets were separate tickets (in this case they were digital since we purchased them online ahead of time) that you do not scan in the station but must be shown to the conductor on the train if asked as proof that you paid for your upgraded seat/train. The Green Car works the same way. Green Cars are upgraded train cars. They are usually double decker cars that have nicer, more comfortable seats than the rest of the train. We purchased these to go to Kamakura because we wanted to be able to sit for the longer ride. We purchased them from a ticket machine at the station so we had a paper ticket. Again, this ticket was never scanned in the station. We tapped in and out using our regular Suica card and showed our paper Green Car ticket to the conductor when he walked through the train. If you cannot produce your separate Green Car ticket, you will be asked to move to a regular car in the train.
JR Passes
Japan Rail offers several passes that allow you unlimited rides within a certain area, ranging from city passes to nationwide passes. While these sound great in theory, most people who do the math figure out that they don’t end up saving money with the pass because they are so expensive and do not cover city subway systems. The exception to this is the Kansai-Hiroshima Area Pass offered by JR West. This pass provides unlimited rides for 5 days between Kansai and Hiroshima, including the Sanyo Shinkansen. This specific pass costs ¥17,000. A reserved seat on the one way Shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima costs ¥10,640. So if you plan to take the Shinkansen round trip between the two cities, the pass pays for itself. (Note that the pass does not include the Shinkansen between Hiroshima and Kyoto because it is a different line that is not covered. But the express trains between Osaka and Kyoto are covered so we simply took the Shinkansen to Osaka and then the express train from Osaka to Kyoto. Because Osaka and Kyoto are so close, the ride on the express train is only 5-10 minutes longer than the Shinkansen so it is not a big deal.)
You can purchase the pass at a JR Station or online in advance. If you purchase them online, you have to go to a train station to show your passports and pick up the physical tickets. Once you activate your passes by picking them up, your 5 day window starts. You can take as many JR train rides as you’d like in the covered area for the next 5 days. To use the pass, insert the ticket into the station gate (don’t tap your IC card!). The ticket comes out on the other side of the machine and you grab it so you can use it to get out at the arrival station and for all your future trips.
Another benefit of the passes is that they allow you to reserve a seat on the Shinkansen for no additional charge. If you purchase the tickets prior to arriving in Japan (or in the Kansai/Hiroshima area), you can reserve seats for future Shinkansen rides online ahead of time. The catch here is that online seat reservations can only be booked before you activate and pick up your passes. We found this out the hard way. We didn’t know days in advance what time we would want to take the Shinkansen, but we figured out our schedule the night before and wanted to reserve seats then. Unfortunately we found out that the online reservation system can no longer be used once your pass is active. This meant that we had to either go to the ticket counter or a ticket machine with a QR code reader to reserve our seats once we arrived at the station. This added a little bit of time to our trips but wasn’t a huge deal. If you are a planner and know the exact dates and times that you will take the Shinkansen, you can use the online reservation system well in advance of your trip. If you want more flexibility in your travels, just take care of it when you arrive at the station. Shinkansens leave so frequently that it is easy to find seats on one of the next few trains.
TECHNOLOGY
eSIM / Pocket WiFi
Whether you want to stay connected to home/work or not, for navigation purposes it is critical to have data access on your phone while you are in Japan. There are three main options for access:
- Activate the international plan with your cellular carrier. This option tends to be the most expensive ($12 a day for Verizon) but is super easy and allows you to stay fully connected by phone and text.
- Rent a pocket WiFi. This is a physical device that you carry with you that creates a portable hotspot for up to 10 devices. These typically run about ¥700 – ¥1,500 per day ($4.65 – $10) and provide fast, unlimited data. The downside is that everyone in the group needs to be together (and in proximity to the device) to use it. So if your group plans to split up at any point, this is probably not the best option (or you may need to get more than one).
- Use an eSIM to connect to a Japanese mobile network. I used Ubigi and simply registered on their site and purchased 5 GB of data (valid for 15 days) for $10. It was automatically added to my phone, and when I landed I just had to go to Settings -> Cellular and under SIMs, turn my primary line off and the Japan eSIM on. It was so easy and cheap ($10 for my entire trip!) and worked perfectly. I used my phone constantly for navigation and did not go over my 5 GB allowance. One note – your phone needs to be unlocked by your carrier in order to use an eSIM. Usually this only happens when your phone is at least a certain percentage paid off. My husband had just gotten a new phone and could not use an eSIM.
Google Maps / Apple Maps
I was amazed at how much information these two map apps provided. I primarily used Google Maps and the detailed directions were incredible. Simply enter where you want to navigate to and it gives you at least 3 options – driving, public transportation, and walking. Within public transportation, it shows you multiple options and how long each would take. It tells you the line and platform to go to, what time the next train arrives, how crowded the train is, and even which train car to get in for the fastest transfer on your route. It tells you how many stops you need to ride, where to get off, and which station exit to take in order to get to your final destination fastest. We probably took close to 50 subway/bus rides while we were there and it never steered us wrong. There were only a handful of times in some of the larger, multi-story stations in Tokyo where it had difficulty figuring out which floor we were on and directing us to the best exit. We just kept making our way up and eventually it located us properly and led us out.
Portable Phone Charger
As mentioned above, we relied very heavily on Google Maps. It is an amazing app that gives you so much useful information, but it is also a serious drain on your phone battery. We rode the subway multiple times per day and walked an average of 20,000 steps per day, following Google Maps basically the entire time. Between that and using the camera, my phone was often hitting low battery warnings by late afternoon. A portable charger was key to keeping me up and running and connected.
GENERAL
Klook
Klook is an international travel platform that can be used to book everything from train tickets to museum tickets. While I typically try to purchase everything direct from the provider, that isn’t always possible, especially on international trips. Some Japanese websites cannot accept foreign credit cards, and in those cases Klook was invaluable. We used Klook to purchase our Shibuya Sky and Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan tickets when we were unable to complete the transactions directly on their websites. If not for Klook we would not have been able to go to those attractions because both of them ended up being sold out on the days we went so only those with tickets purchased in advance could get in. We found that prices were very reasonable for basic tickets and in most cases they had great refund/exchange policies. When it became obvious that we weren’t going to make it to Osaka in time for our aquarium entry time slot, I was able to easily cancel my original tickets and rebook at a later time. I received my refund of the original ticket within about an hour. Klook also often has tickets available for attractions that are sold out on the provider’s own site. In those cases, there tends to be a very large markup. The most egregious example I saw of this was their Ghibli Museum ticket package. Tickets purchased through the museum’s site are ¥1000 (about $7 USD) but the tickets sell out in seconds and are basically impossible to get. Klook sells a Ghibli Museum and Ghibli Film Appreciation Bus Tour for $186 per person! You cannot convince me that any bus tour adds $179 of value to a museum ticket. I also don’t recommend purchasing train tickets through Klook since they are so easy to purchase direct either at the train station or through the JR website and are cheaper direct as well. But they definitely serve a vital (and reasonably priced) function for some attractions.
Luggage Transfer
This is one of those things that I read about a ton beforehand, with so many people touting luggage transfer as an amazing service. Known as Takkyubin, it is basically a luggage delivery system. You drop your bags off at your hotel’s front desk (most hotels participate) or a convenience store (7-Eleven, Family Mart, etc.) and they get delivered to your next hotel or to a convenience store in the next city for pickup. (Note that someone needs to be there to receive the bags so people staying in Airbnbs typically use the convenience store pickup option.) Having your luggage delivered allows you to travel lighter, which can be especially nice when navigating through busy train stations.
We had two separate stays planned that were just an overnight (Hakone and Miyajima) so I planned to just use backpacks for those nights and send our luggage to the next stop. However, when I went to the front desk of our Tokyo hotel to arrange to have our bags sent to Osaka, I found out that they would not guarantee next day arrival. It seemed hard to believe that they couldn’t deliver from Tokyo to Osaka next day but they would only commit to 1-2 day delivery. It was also more expensive than I would have liked. $18 a bag adds up for 4 people.
So we ended up not using it. So many people swear by this service and I will admit that lugging our bags around Hakone for a single night was a major pain, but to us it ended up not being worth the cost and risk.
Konbinis
Another thing that I read a ton about beforehand was Japanese convenience stores (konbinis) like 7-Eleven, Family Mart, and Lawson. People raved about the food and claimed it was a great meal alternative when you are too tired/lazy/broke to eat out. And certain items there are super popular – onigiri (rice balls) and tamago sando (egg sandwiches) being two of the most talked about. You can also use the ATM to get cash, buy bus or museum tickets, refill your IC card, and send/pick up your luggage at the konbinis.
We somewhat bought into the Konbini craze. We definitely went quite a few times for snacks, drinks and light meals. My favorite was the smoothies from 7-Eleven. You buy a frozen cup of fruit and mix it yourself in the blender. They were delicious and only ¥300 (about $2). But the most talked about item is definitely the egg sandwich and I did not buy into that. I’m sorry. Egg salad is gross.
Food
The food in Japan is pretty polarizing – either you embrace it or it stresses you out. Our family had 2 people in each category. My husband and youngest were willing to try almost everything (except eel) and my oldest and I were not very adventurous. Finding places to eat was somewhat stressful because of this. Even when menus had an English version or pictures of the food, I still had a hard time discerning what things were and figuring out what to order. I will say that everything my son and I ate, we really liked. It was just a matter of figuring out where to go and what to order. For the less adventurous and/or non-seafood eaters, some good options are yakitori (chicken skewers), katsu (breaded, fried chicken), yakiniku (beef you grill at your table), tonkatsu (fried pork), teriyaki chicken, and ramen or udon noodles.
Hotel Breakfast
One of the best decisions we made was to include breakfast with all our hotel bookings. Yes, it cost more (not insignificant for 4 people) but it was so worth it for us. Meals were a little bit stressful for us and not having to think about breakfast each day was so helpful. While we were more adventurous with lunch and dinner, it was a comfort to have a familiar breakfast to start the day. It was also a larger meal than we would have had otherwise, which meant we could do lighter lunches. And it forced the kids out of bed at a decent time. Most breakfasts had a last seating time of 9:30 so that kept them from sleeping until noon and helped us get going on our activities for the day. I recognize that a lot of people won’t think it is worth it if they don’t want a big breakfast or the added cost, but for us it was money well spent.
Laundry
Because Japan is a far trip for many travelers, it is common to stay 2 weeks or more. And because trips of this length often involve a lot of moving around between cities, it is preferable to pack light. This means that you will probably need to do laundry at least once during your trip. All of the hotels we stayed in had laundry facilities and most Airbnbs do as well. So availability is not an issue. What can be an issue is the machines themselves. The dryers are notorious for not actually drying your clothes. I first did laundry at our hotel in Osaka. It was like Lord of the Flies in that laundry room. There was always a line for the machines so the second one finished (whether it was a washer or a dryer), someone (not the owner) took out the clothes and set them aside so they could start their own laundry. The problem with this was that the clothes coming out of the dryer were never dry after just one cycle. So people were putting other people’s damp clothes into a plastic bag and there was no opportunity to start another dryer cycle. (Even when you wait with your clothes, people will give you a death stare if you try to do a second drying cycle.) We did laundry the first night in that hotel and after one drying cycle and 2 days of hanging in the room, everything was still damp.
I did another load of laundry at our Hiroshima hotel. That hotel had combined washer/dryer machines. The wash and dry cycle for a medium sized load of laundry took 2 hours… and the clothes still weren’t dry. This laundry room wasn’t as cutthroat as the other so I was able to do another hour drying cycle. So it was a 3 hour load of laundry but everything was actually dry this time.
The machines are easy to use. They only take ¥100 coins, and a load will end up costing between ¥600 and ¥1000 depending on how many drying cycles you do. The machines dispense detergent automatically so you don’t have to worry about that. There are no options for water temperature, delicate cycle, etc. You literally just put your laundry in and insert the coins and the machine starts up. Both of the laundry rooms I used had plastic bags (like take-out bags) to put your clothes in (or someone else’s if you’re taking theirs out!) when they are done. These worked in a pinch but were small so if you have a travel laundry bag I would bring it.
Visiting in June
Due to school schedules and the length of this trip, we could only visit during the summer. We had the option of going the last two weeks of June or sometime in July. June is the rainy season and July is officially summer in Japan. Since Japan can be oppressively hot in the summer, we opted to take our chances with the rain. And I’m so glad we did! It had already gotten hot and muggy in North Carolina before we left so it was nice to have some cooler temperatures. Most days were cloudy (I think we only had 2 truly sunny days out of 16) but I actually appreciated the clouds. It kept it from getting too hot and the cloud cover just generally made it more pleasant to walk around. We did get a few bouts of serious rain (we avoided a direct hit from the double typhoon but definitely felt its effects) but they only impacted our plans for our day in Hakone. The rest of the time we just grabbed umbrellas and went on with our days. Kyoto was especially rain-friendly, as they have a ton of covered markets and most of their sidewalks on the main streets are covered too. I have no regrets about choosing rain over heat.
